Front cover and contents page.

This is both ny front cover and contents page I designed, Understandably their are a lot of features I'll need to includ in my proper music magazine; but this is my first attempt. I plan to make my next magazine cover and contents page to include more features and mainly look realistic, as if it's a real magazine.

Music magazine: Research & Planning.

Various magazines and their target audiences. 

Kerrang! and Q discussion. 

Firstly, both of these magazines contain features that I wish to include in my magazine. However, they also contain features that I do not wish to include in my magazine.

Kerrang! has the target audience I specifically want to have, I want my audience to be around student age. It conveys the individuality and desire I want my magazine to feature, I want this as it personally seems key to catching the genre of my audiences eye. I want my magazine to offer insight to the depth of music and what current musicians are doing to further the art in music. I want my magazine to be a Rock genre. However I want small elements to make minor comparisons with other genres, but not a lot. I want to do this to expand the genre of rock that my target audience would support, the comparisons between them would make my music genre appear seemingly better. I want to discuss the difference between rock and roll and classic for example; I would expose the excellence of what my target audience support.  This is how the magazine Q links to what I want to include. 

This magazine focuses on music that isn't necessarily in the weeks top ten. It's more insightful to the art of music and skills around it. It's this type of feature I want to incorporate into my magazine.

I want my magazine to be appealing to a person who see's it for the first time however, so I would like to have highly motivated graphic images like those on Kerrang!, this is because I think they're eye catching to a person walking by. I also want to include two of the three 'most appealing words'. I believe these key features are what will make my magazine cover appear eye catching and realistic. 

Music magazine: Research & Planning.

Various magazines and their target audiences. 

Q magazine

Q magazine is aimed at particularly more older audience. It's aimed between persons in their 30's and 40's. It's specific role as a music magazine is to be alternative. It offers insight into music, reissues, televison, films, games etc. Though the most part of the magazine is filled with interviews and compiling lists.

It's very alternative clearly into what it offers. It doesn't appear massively appealing to a younger audience like Kerrang!, in fact it has very little to offer to persons within that age group. Though that isn't to dispute that 16-24 years olds don't or haven't purchased this magazine. 

The background of this magazine cover of Q has a field, this would reinforce the idea of them having an older target audience as stereotypically we consider people of this age wanting to relax in peace and harmony. This contrasts with the busy and bold connotations of alternative music. 

Music magazine: Research & Planning.

Various magazines and their target audiences. 

Kerrang!

This type of magazine aims specifically at a niche audience, this is because it holds concern topics and themes that are relevant to people who listen and are interested in rock music (as this is the music genre the magazine offers) and its background. The title of the magazine Kerrang! is onomatopoeic of the smash of an electric guitar, it identifies its audience as individually minded and independent of thought, and musically talented or experienced. The audience is defined by attitude, passion and loyalty. Their current figures in selling are still currently high and their audience has remained by the definition 'loyal'. 

They audience are made up of 40% females and 60% males along with Kerrang!'s demographic fall into the social class D-C. The dominate age of which these persons read the magazine are between 16-24 years old. 

This magazine can be seen as being aimed at a young audience through it's various use of graphic images, layout and eye catching fonts. Being aimed at youths it's display on the magazine always remains contemporary and up-to-date. It displays what we associate as common faces and interesting advertisement for its youth. It's said that three words particularly have the greatest effect on magazine covers. These are: free, win and sex. Kerrang! uses at least two of these words on every issue from my understanding which therefore appeals to their target audience. 

Contents page examples.

I've been looking at some examples of contents pages, I've done this in an attempt to grasp an understanding of what I may want to incoporate into my contents page. These examples I've displayed I feel are useful as they all pose aspects of a contents page that I think would be useful in my own page. They all display individual qualities I believe are effective and would make my contents page appear realistic. Take the simplicity of 'July Contents' for example, though it's very vague it appears realistic and useful, it's also appealing from it's image placed on it which attracts a buyer. This is just one of the many features from these four examples that I feel are useful when creating my contents page.

Contents page, first draft.

During today I also made my first start on my contents page, here is my first draft of it:

Understandably this does lack many features of a contents page. For starters it's majorly eye catching, however this is my first attempt and I still have tonnes of work to do to this page. Next week I will consider adding more colours and images in an attempt to make the contents page appear more realistic and desirable.

Magazine cover, third draft.

Today is the third week I've been working on my first draft of my magazine cover, this is my finished product of the front cover of todays lesson:

As you can see it currently contains a title and strapline, both of which differ to highlight the magazines title but also what it has to offer. It also contains a plug as you can visibly see and it's there the price is established. Furthermore it has secondary leads down the left side of the cover, this offers insight to my reader and is used in an attempt to attract them to buy my magazine.

There are however, conventions of magazines that I'm still lacking. These include a box-out, lure and feature. These are conventions I will have to bare in mind on my finalised cover.